Primary Menu

What We Do

Mission Statement

The mission of Pittsburgh Bike Share is to expand access to public transit through easy-to-use, affordable active transportation opportunities.

Values

Accessibility
Pittsburgh Bike Share is dedicated to connecting communities throughout Pittsburgh using an intuitive bike-sharing system. We also encourage and support bike and pedestrian infrastructure initiatives that increase public accessibility to the city through active transportation.

Equity & Inclusivity
Pittsburgh Bike Share envisions using affordable active transportation systems like bike-sharing as a way to create equity for residents in underserved neighborhoods that have been traditionally challenged by deficiencies in urban mobility.

Community Engagement
As a proud member of the Pittsburgh community, Pittsburgh Bike Share is devoted to playing an active, thoughtful role as a community partner and public resource. We hope to engage the city’s residents, visitors, and students in open dialogue about bike-sharing and how we as an organization can grow to meet the needs of those we serve.

Interactive Customer Experience
With a commitment to industry-leading customer service, Pittsburgh Bike Share provides a high-quality outdoor experience that is both safe and enjoyable.

City Health & Sustainability
Bike-sharing helps to address urban challenges by reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions, improving air quality, reducing vehicular collisions, improving public health and fitness, and reducing the overall cost of street maintenance. Pittsburgh Bike Share is a valuable component of making Pittsburgh a more livable, diverse, and healthy city.

Goals

Pittsburgh Bike Share is dedicated to creating a ubiquitous active transportation network that positions human powered transportation as an integral part of the larger public transit system in the city of Pittsburgh.

Station Density
Pittsburgh Bike Share is dedicated to improving service within pre-existing bike-sharing communities in order to make the system more convenient for riders. Through robust community engagement we will locate additional stations in existing neighborhoods to increase access and use of the system.

System Expansion
Pittsburgh Bike Share is dedicated to reaching more people and expanding public cycling opportunities by extending its network into new neighborhoods throughout the city. In order to continue connecting individuals, businesses, and communities, we aim to expand the established bike-sharing network.

Ridership
Through both station density and system expansion, Pittsburgh Bike Share hopes to both enlist new riders and increase use among registered users. Our community outreach efforts will focus on establishing ways to reach more individuals in need of alternative transportation as well as incorporating ongoing feedback to improve the system for current and potential users.

Bike-Sharing & Cycling Education
An integral part of any bike share system is creating knowledgeable, prepared, and capable riders. Through community outreach, Pittsburgh Bike Share prepares current and potential bike share users for the road ahead. Community outreach events include information on bike safety, bike share system use, and city navigation in order to provide bike share riders with a comprehensive knowledge of the benefits and challenges of cycling in Pittsburgh. These events are arranged for community groups, bike and pedestrian committees, non-profit organizations, businesses, and organizations of all shapes and sizes.

Outreach
Through direct community engagement, Pittsburgh Bike Share hopes to engage the public in any and all system expansion and neighborhood density discussions. Through these discussions, a primary directive is to tackle physical and financial barriers to the system in order to reach those in need of increased public transportation options.

Brief History

Bike Share Pittsburgh, Inc. (dba Pittsburgh Bike Share) is a charitable organization founded in December 2012 and incubated by Bike Pittsburgh. The organization was created due to mounting interest in implementing a municipal bike share system in Pittsburgh from a collection of local leaders: planners at the City of Pittsburgh, business leaders at Walnut Capital, and bicycle/pedestrian advocates at Bike Pittsburgh.

In 2013 Bike Pittsburgh raised significant capital from local foundations–including Heinz Endowments, Buhl Foundation, Henry L. Hillman Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation, and other anonymous donors–to cover planning and capital costs and match a $1.6 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality improvement (CMAQ) grant from the Federal Highway Administration. This successful fundraising campaign launched the bike share project. Bike Pittsburgh, working alongside leaders at the Department of City Planning, hired Alta Planning + Design to develop a business plan for the program. Alta Planning + Design, in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, conducted a thorough community outreach and planning operation and completed the business plan in 2013.

In 2014, the City advertised a bid for bike share procurement and system installation. The bid was awarded to S.E.T., an Ohio based general contractor, partnering with Nextbike, a German company with over 20,000 bicycles deployed in bike-share systems worldwide, to provide the system equipment, including GPS enabled bicycles, solar powered kiosks and docking stations, and software to operate the system. As mandated by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the CMAQ grant requirement, the City of Pittsburgh contracted with a federally certified project management team, CDR Maguire, to manage the implementation.

Expansion Plans

Healthy Ride will expand by 15 stations in early 2018. Continue to check Facebook and Twitter for expansion updates.